Anti-roll gloves and methods of manufacture

ABSTRACT

Gloves and methods of manufacturing gloves that provide structural support elements to prevent or minimize glove roll, and that alternatively or in addition provide protection against blunt force to the back of the hand, including methods of manufacture, specifically including molding or screening the structural support elements and/or protective cushions to the back of the hand side of the glove.

This application is a utility patent application based on, incorporates by reference and claims the benefit of priority of U.S. provisional patent application 61/442,164 filed Feb. 11, 2011.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The inventions described herein relates generally to the field of gloves and methods of manufacture, specifically to industrial or work gloves as compared to fashion gloves, sporting or recreational gloves or gloves used primarily for protection against cold. More particularly, the inventions described herein relate primarily to seamless knitted gloves with various dipped polymer coated applications, and to cut and sewn gloves onto which anti roll structural elements have been positioned on the top or back of the hand side of the gloves.

BACKGROUND

In the field of industrial, work and safety gloves, conventional seamless knitted/dipped gloves fill an important need. These gloves typically have a knitted base or form onto which is then dipped or screen printed with one or more polymers. Typical polymers include latex, PVC (polyvinyl chloride), neoprene, silicone, PU (poly urethane), nitrile, etc., and various mixtures and combinations of these.

While this type of industrial or work glove has generally performed well, a number of areas exhibit specific problems, and gloves addressing those problems would provide significant benefits to the field. The areas of known problems, and therefore corresponding improvements, generally relate to safety, comfort, performance, durability and task or job specific applications. In this context and as used herein, the term safety refers to structures designed to prevent accidents and to minimize risk of injury.

SUMMARY

In the knitted/dipped gloves industry often the back of the hand and fingers of string knit gloves stretches out due to the knitted structure of the liner that loosens when repeatedly stressed due to the nature of the working or environmental conditions. These conditions cause problems with the gloves, such as causing them to lose their custom fit, stretch and recovery properties and make the gloves less comfortable for the worker. These problems often lead to a need to retire the glove early.

These problems are addressed in preferred embodiment gloves described herein, which gloves generally have an X-shaped structural support extending across the back of the glove. The gloves also may have variations in specific shape, materials of construction, branding requirements and other design considerations. The structural support extends across back of the hand, below the knuckles and in a crescent shape forming, in general, an X or saddle shape that may be scalloped and terminate below the thumb knuckle and just above wrist break on the small finger side of the top of the hand. Optionally, the support structures may include separate bands or pads that are placed laterally between the knuckles on the fingers, two on each of the fingers and one on the thumb. These structural supports join or nearly join, depending on the materials of construction and manufacturing processes used, and the existence and location of a dipped palm polymer surface, thus creating an expandable and retractable system that keeps the knitted glove from stretching out. This not only allows for a more custom fit but also allows for a glove that remains form fitting until the glove wears out, due to the nature of the work, use and conditions to which the glove is subjected. Gloves having the X support structure, and optionally these other support structures, are not retired solely because loosening of the back of the glove loosens the fit of the glove on the hand of the user and causes slippage.

Furthermore, the presently described gloves with structural support members may be made by molding onto machine knitted gloves, which processes are believed to be novel manufacturing process for the presently described gloves.

The various gloves and glove features described herein provide numerous short term and long term advantages through improving performance and durability, reducing risk of fatigue and injury to users, enhancing comfort to users and improving specific task-related functionality. These advantages are achieved through incorporating various back of the hand structural features to gloves . . . The advantageous features described herein are intended primarily for use in the knit, dipped safety and work glove fields, but may be used for other type of gloves, such as for example, cut and sewn gloves, and may be used on gloves intended for use in other fields, such as recreational use fields.

These and other embodiments, features, aspects, and advantages of the invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims and accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing aspects and the attendant advantages of the present invention will become more readily appreciated by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a back, X-ray view of a left hand, showing its bone structure and with conventional nomenclature used for reference and convenience in describing the inventive gloves and methods of manufacture herein;

FIG. 2 is a back view of a left hand of a first embodiment glove having a hand support structure;

FIG. 3 is a palm view of the FIG. 2 embodiment; and,

FIG. 4 is a back view of a left hand of a second embodiment glove including protective structures on the back of the glove

Reference symbols or names are used in the figures to indicate certain components, aspects or features shown therein. Reference symbols common to more than one figure indicate like components, aspects or features shown therein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments of advantageous gloves are described as follows. FIG. 1 is an X-ray, or cut away drawing of a back view of a human hand, including conventional nomenclature for those hand structures that are useful in describing the various embodiments of gloves herein. Also, for convenience only one hand of each glove embodiment is described in detail. As will be appreciated by those skilled in this art, the features incorporated into one hand, right or left can readily be incorporated into the other hand, right or left. Thus, the description herein is intended to relate to individual left and right hand gloves, as well as to pairs of gloves with a left hand glove and a right hand glove.

Description of Preferred Anti-roll Gloves

With reference to FIGS. 2-3, a knitted work glove having functional bracing will be described. In general the bracing or support structures or elements are placed on the back of the glove and are sized, configured and adapted to ensure that the glove remains in proper place on a worker's hand through repeated use of the glove, with sufficient tightness to prevent or minimize glove roll during the useful life of the glove. This feature is referred to an anti roll feature due to its primary function of minimizing or preventing glove roll after repeated use of the glove. The specific size, material of construction, and shape of the bracing may vary from glove application to glove application. For example, the gauge, composition of the knit, and if Lycra®, Spandex® or Elastane ® brand high molecular weight elastomeric copolymer of polyurethane/polyurea is used in the glove, the amount of such material all could vary. In many industrial and work-related circumstances gloves are provided to workers for protection of the workers' hands. In such instances the gloves are typically not replaced until after the palm surface has shown excessive wear or failure. Often such gloves are replaced after the worker identifies holes, cuts, snags or other problems with the gloves. In many if not most situations these problems are identified after the knitted back portion of the glove has lost its elasticity and has been stretched. The knitted portion of the glove has been loosened due to repeated stretching resulting from the nature of the work and the worker repeatedly putting on and removing the glove. This glove condition causes the glove to move side to side, forward and backward and is referred to as “glove roll”. Glove roll reduces the worker's ability to hold objects firmly. As a consequence, in order to grip an object firmly with such a worn glove, the worker has to exert increased gripping force, which in turn leads to hand fatigue and/or other hand problems, such as increased slippage of objects from a worker's grip or even loss of grip.

With reference to FIGS. 2-3, the glove 20 includes one or more strategically placed bands 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40 and/or 42 to address and minimize or eliminate the glove roll problem. As shown in FIG. 2, structural element or band 22 is generally and preferably X-shaped, extends across the top of the glove, and covers much of the hand above the metacarpals and carpals. Band 24 is preferably shaped as a straight, linear strip extending across the back of the glove toward the wrist end of the glove and covering the hand above the carpals located adjacent the ulna and radius. Band 26 preferably is also a straight, linear strip, and extends across the glove thumb approximately above the joint between the 1^(st) metacarpal and the 1^(st) proximal phalange. Bands 28-42 preferably are also linear strips, and they extend across the back of each of the glove fingers at approximately above the joints between the 2^(nd)-5^(th) metacarpals and the 2^(nd)-5^(th) proximal phalanges, and at approximately above the joints between the 2^(nd)-5^(th) proximal phalanges and the 2^(nd) middle phalanges.

In one preferred embodiment the bands 22-42 are screen printed polymer bands. Referring to FIG. 3, the palm side of the glove is preferably palm dipped overall. The ends of the hand screened bands 22-42 preferably join with the palm dipped bottom or palm side of the glove 44.

The gloves having these structural supports or bands are in the class of gloves having polymer/dip coatings, which in this field is commonly understood to mean and is referred to as an elastomeric coating, either plastic or rubber and derivatives or blends thereof.

Methods of Manufacturing

The presently described anti-roll gloves can be manufactured by any of several methods. More specifically, the anti-roll support structures, bracing or elements can be incorporated onto the machine knit shell by compression molding, oil base screen printing with PVC plastisol or water base screen printing with nitrile latex. It is also presently believed that these gloves can be made by an injection molding process. Preferably, the material of the yarn used to knit the shell is selected from any of natural, regenerated and/or synthetic fibers or combinations. In particular the yarn is preferably selected from cellulosics, such as for example, cotton or linen; polyamides; nylons; acrylics; aramids (both meta and para); polyolefins; polyesters; polyvinyl alcohols; metals; glass fibers; silk; wool; acetate yarns; PTFE (polytetraflouroethylene); carbon fiber; PBI (polybenzimidazole); PBO (p-phenylene-2,6benzobisoxazole); Rayon® brand regenerated cellulosic fiber; bamboo fibers, or combinations thereof.

Injection Molding Processes of Manufacture

As indicated above it is believed that the presently described gloves can be made with an injection molding process. It is envisioned that a preferred injection molding process would involve injection molding of a thermoplastic elastomer directly onto the machine knit shell. It is believed that this may be achieved with a suitable thermoplastic rubber, or plastic such as EPDM (ethylenepropylenediene) or PVC plastisol.

An example of a process using a PVC plastisol would be as follows:

-   1. Firstly a machine knit shell/liner is loaded onto a flat metal     hand shaped former. -   2. Then using an injection molding press in an open position the     flat former with the loaded machine knit shell/liner is placed in a     preset position in the press. -   3. Next, a molding tool of the designated shape is mounted on the     press, and the press is closed so that the molding tool is pushed     into direct, closed contact with the machine knit lined flat former.     In this regard the molding tool is made with conventional materials     and techniques. The molding tool is formed so that a cavity, or     cavities complementary to the bands or elements shown in FIGS. 2-3     and described in greater detail above. For example, if a glove     having only a band such as band 22 is to be manufactured, a molding     tool is made that would have a cavity of the shape and dimensions     complementary to that illustrated in FIG. 2, and would have a     pre-determined depth to correspond to the desired thickness of the     band. Similarly, other molding tools could be prepared to have any     combination of the bands 22-42 shown in FIG. 2 and/or any     combination of the protective cushions 52-72 as shown in FIG. 4. -   4. An elastomeric PVC compound is heated to 190° C. or some other     temperature sufficient to melt it to a free flowing high viscosity     molten liquid state. This molten elastomer is then force injected     through a sprew and into the mold to achieve the designed structural     support shape and thickness. -   5. Next cold water is run through the molding tool for a     predetermined time sufficient to cool and set the molded shaped     patch in place on the shell. -   6. Then the press is opened and the molded shell is removed from the     flat metal former. The former can be re-loaded with a new knitted     glove shell and the process is repeated to form another glove having     the predetermined shape and thickness.

It is envisioned that the PVC compounds used for injection molding could be soft or hard, depending on the plasticizer loading. Various known PVC resins, and bipolymer resins, such as polyvinyl acetate of varying molecular weights are commonly used to help determine viscosities, and plasticizer (oil) loadings are commonly used to achieve the desired hot melt and final hardness of molded shapes and it is envisioned that they may be used as well. Varying the specific loadings to achieve a desired softness or hardness is considered to be within the ordinary skill of those who practice in this art.

It is believed that a formulation that could be used for making the presently described gloves with an injection molding process would be:

-   1. PVC polymer, or PVA/PVC biopolymer—100 parts of resin by weight     (phr). -   2. Plasticizer oil (DEHP) (diethylhexylphthalate)—80-100 phr     (depending on the degree of hardness desired). -   3. Heat Stabilizer (zinc or cadmium soap preferred)—3 phr. -   4. Epoxy soya bean oil—7.5 phr. -   5. Dispersed Pigment—3 phr.

Compression Molding Manufacturing Processes

An example of a preferred, relatively simple compression molding process includes the following steps:

-   1. Firstly a machine knit shell/liner is loaded onto a flat metal     hand shaped former. -   2. A cool mold of the predetermined structural support shape is     filled with liquid PVC paste. Once preferred paste is a high     plasticizer PVC plastisol paste compound that will flow at room     temperature with a Brookfield viscosity of approximately 700 cps     spindle 7 @ 1 rpm. The mold referred to herein can be made with     conventional materials and conventional techniques to have a cavity     or cavities in any combination of shapes and dimensions that would     be complimentary to the bands 22-42 and/or protective cushions 52-72     shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, respectively. -   3. The metal mold is heated evenly throughout until the PVC compound     in the mold becomes semi solid, or semi-gelled at about 130° C. -   4. The flat hand shape former with the machine knit shell/liner is     lowered onto the open top mold so that the semi-solid molding PVC     compound is touching the knitted shell on the former in a     pre-designated position. -   5. The former is then placed under a press, the press is manually     closed and the metal mold is final heated to at least 180° C. to     fully gel or set the PVC compound. -   6. The former and mold are then removed from the press and allowed     to cool. -   7. After cooling, the knitted shell with the molding applied is     removed from the flat former and the process is repeated to form     another anti-roll glove.

A preferred, basic formulation for a compression molding process is:

-   1. PVC polymer, or PVA/PVC bipolymer—100 phr. -   2. Plasticizer oil (DEHP)—110-130 phr (depending on the     predetermined hardness requirement). -   3. Heat Stabilizer (zinc or cadmium soap)—3 phr. -   4. Epoxy soya bean oil—7.5 phr. -   5. Dispersed pigment—3 phr.

Screen Printing Manufacturing Processes Using PVC

Preferred screen printing processes for making the anti-roll gloves can be conducted at room temperature with a liquid PVC plastisol type paste. A preferred screen printing process includes the following steps:

-   1. Firstly a machine knit shell/liner is loaded onto a flat metal     hand shaped former. -   2. The flat loaded former is then placed below a printing screen and     in a predetermined, set position. The screen is made with the     predetermined structural support structure formed as a hollow     pattern in the solid screen. Preferred screens are silk based, with     an acrylic coating, or a metal coating. Using conventional     techniques the screen or screens may be made with a hollowed out     part, or a plurality of hollowed out parts or cavities that would be     complementary to any combination of the bands 22-42 of FIG. 2 and/or     to the protective cushions 52-72 shown in FIG. 4. -   3. The screen is lowered into position over and in contact with the     loaded former. Holes in the screen pattern allow the liquid     plastisol to pass through the screen so as to contact and stick to     the underlying machine knit shell. -   4. A shot of the PVC paste, preferably having a Brookfield viscosity     of 950 cps spindle 7 @ 1 rpm is loaded in front of the squeegee     blade. The squeegee pushes the liquid PVC compound forward along the     top surface of the screen. The PVC plastisol is thus squeezed into     and fills up the cavity or cavities under the screen. The squeegee     is returned to its original position, having jumped over the excess     paste at the end of the run. In pulling back over the screen holes a     second time pressure is applied to make sure the holes or cavities     are all filled and the PVC paste compound is secured to the machine     knit shell/liner surface. -   5. The screen is then lifted off of the machine knit shell, leaving     the predetermined, raised printed structural pattern on the knit     shell/liner. -   6. The loaded, printed former is then passed into an oven and heated     to and maintained at a temperature of about 185° C. for about 3-5     minutes to gel/cure the PVC compound. -   7. The printed shell former is then cooled, the finished anti-roll     glove is stripped off of the former and the process is repeated.

A preferred formulation for the PVC paste used in this example is:

-   1. PVC polymer, or PVA/PVC bipolymer—100 phr. -   2. Plasticizer oil (DEHP)—100-120 phr (depending on the     predetermined hardness requirement). -   3. Heat stabilizer (zinc or cadmium soap)—3 phr. -   4. Epoxy soya bean oil—7.5 phr. -   5. Dispersed pigment—3 phr.

An alternate preferred screen printing manufacturing process uses water-based latex compound, with carboxylated acrylonitrile butadiene latex (otherwise known as nitrile) the most preferred. A suitable, nitrile latex is grade NVT-LA commercially available from Polymer Latex Sdn Bdh, Damansara Heights 50490 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The process for the actual screen printing is generally the same as describe in the above screen printing example, except that a water spray is often first applied to the screen to prevent the latex from drying or skinning which in turn would block up or clog the screen holes. Also, when screen printing with water-based latex the drying and curing time and temperature are much longer. For example drying for about 30 minutes at about 85° C. and curing at about 125° C. for 15 minutes is preferred. The screen(s) is/are made with conventional techniques and in the shapes and with the dimensions as described above with respect to FIGS. 2 and 4.

A preferred formulation for the nitrile latex used in the above example is:

-   1. NVT-LA latex—100 parts of rubber. -   2. Anionic surfactant—0.3 parts per hundred parts of rubber (phr). -   3. Pigment—2.0 phr. -   4. ZDEC (zinc diethyldithiocarbamate)—1.0 phr. -   5. Zinc oxide—3.0 phr. -   6. Sulphur—1.0 phr. -   7. Calcium carbonate filler—8.0 phr. -   8. PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) thickener—+/−sufficient to achieve     viscosity of about 10,000+centipoise.

Preferred Glove Dipping Processes

Having processed the knitted shell in one the methods described above, and with the structural support and/or protective elements applied, the knitted shell is ready for dip processing. The presently most preferred shell is a 15 gauge knitted nylon shell. At this stage of the overall manufacturing process, the shell is dip processed to coat the palm side of the glove with a suitable elastomeric polymer coating. A carboxylated acrylonitrile butadiene polymer dipped coating would be a typical example of such a preferred coating. Such a nitrile latex grade would be 6322 commercially available from Synthomer Ltd, Kluang, Malaysia.

A suitable formulation for the elastomeric polymer coating for the dipping process is:

-   1. Synthomer 6322 latex—100.00 parts of rubber. -   2. Anionic stabilizer—0.20 parts per 100 parts of rubber (phr). -   3. Pigment—2.00 phr. -   4. ZnO (zinc oxide)—4.00 phr. -   5. PVA thickener—+/−to achieve the predetermined required viscosity     of around 1000 centipoise.

A preferred glove dipping process includes the following steps:

-   1. Load the knitted shell with the back of the hand structural     support on the dipping hand shape former. -   2. Dip the former and liner into a pre-coagulant solution,     preferably calcium nitrate in alcohol/water, where methanol is 94     parts, water is 5 parts and calcium nitrate is 1 part. -   3. Withdraw the former and liner from the solution and allow it to     semi-dry, fingers down draining for 90 seconds, followed by fingers     up for 90 seconds @ a room temperature of 30° C. -   4. Slowly dip the former and liner into the nitrile latex dipping     compound at a rate of 0.5 to 1.0 cm per second. -   5. Withdraw the former and liner from the nitrile compound slowly,     preferably at a rate not faster than 1.0 cm per second, and at a     steady rate sufficient to yield a coating having a uniform,     predetermined thickness of about 0.25 mm to about 0.75 mm. -   6. Allow time for the pre-coagulant to gel through the nitrile latex     coating. -   7. Leach the dipped glove former in water for about 5 minutes to     remove any excess coagulants. -   8. Allow excess water to drain off. -   9. Dry and cure the dipped glove for about 90 minutes at a     temperature in the range of about 85° C. to about 125° C. -   10. Allow the former to cool, then strip off the finished glove and     repeat the process beginning with another knitted shell as in step 1     above.

One preferred method of manufacture is by screen printing the structural elements or members, preferably by silk screening or by metal screen, printing the structural elements onto the back of the gloves. The structural elements may have differences in thickness, style, types of materials used as the dipping material, although the dipping liquid typically is a polymer or a blend of polymers. While screening processes have been used as a manufacturing process for many years, it is believed that the present inventions are the first to employ a screening process to make a structural support for gloves, particularly structural supports for reducing or elimination the glove roll problem.

Regarding injection or compression molding of the structural elements on the back of the gloves, the elements may be molded to yield different thicknesses, color combinations, style variations and types of polymers. Although it is known that a compression molding process has been used on the back of the hand, with cut and sewn gloves, it is believed that this process has never been used to make a structural support system as described herein. Using a direct injection or compression molding process to form the structural elements on the glove is believed to be a novel and very advantageous improvement to this field. The whole palm side surface of the gloves from finger and thumb tips to the knitted wrist is polymer dipped. The polymer dip coatings are usually made up of carboxylated acrylonitrile butadiene rubber, natural rubber, polychloroprene rubber, polyvinylchloride, polyurethane, styrenebutadiene rubber, isoprene, homopolymers, copolymers, or combinations thereof.

In another preferred process, the structural support elements may be cut and then sewn in place. This process has the advantage of permitting the addition of foam(s) behind the cut structural elements to help in protection of the back of hand from abrasion and mild impact to these areas. The cut and sewn manufacturing process also has a much broader range of materials that may be useful in the finished gloves. For example, polyurethane sheets in 3 mm-7 mm thicknesses may be cut into various shapes, and they have a very good stretch and recovery ability. Also, leather can be used because it has a natural stretch ability and is very abrasion resistant. Some synthetic suede has a stretch component ideal for a glove application, and also is advantageous because they can be made in various thicknesses. Molded pieces of polymers can also be sewn on and they also are advantageous because they can be made in relatively great thicknesses, and provide excellent ability to protect the back of hand in comparison to the other materials and manufacturing processes. These elements may be manufactured by die molds and then sewn in place by using a post sewing machine. The post sewing machine is also known as a half or full pique sewing machine. During such sewing the structural elements are sewn onto the knit gloves by having the post of the sewing machine placed inside the one piece string knit glove and the structural pieces lightly glued in place by two-way or double sided tape.

The glove 20 also, preferably, includes an elastic ringlet cuff 44 that extends entirely around the wrist end of the glove as shown in FIGS. 2-3. Preferably, the ringlet cuff is made of conventional elastic materials. For machine knitted lines, a knitted wrist, also commonly referred to as a “wristing”, preferably has width of about 5 cm to about 10 cm. The thickness depends on the gauge of knitting machine used, typically 18, 15, 13, 10 and 7 gauges. Depending on the tightness of the wristing required for a specific end use various counts of elastic thread are used. The tightness of the wristing is also affected by how many courses of non-elastic base glove yarn are used in conjunction with elastic yarn. For instance, a 2 by 1 knit, referring to 2 non-elastic strands of yarn to 1 elastic strand of yarn is tighter than 4 by 1 knit, or a 6 by 1 knit, and so on with the greater the number of non-elastic strands per elastic strand yielding a looser knit. The ringlet cuff 46 functions to secure the glove around the wrist and prevent unwanted material from getting inside of the glove during use. The wrist end of the glove preferably includes a cuff binding 48 that also extends entirely around the outer circumference of the glove as shown in FIGS. 2-3.

The bands 22-42 and glove 20 create an expandable and retractable system that keeps or functions to prevent the knitted glove from stretching during use. Thus, the banded glove 20 provides for a more custom fit for an individual worker, and for a longer time of use before glove roll occurs. Such gloves will remain form fitting, and exhibit little or no glove roll prior to the glove needing replacement or retirement due to some other reason, such as the palm wearing out, cuts, holes, etc., with the glove. The banded glove 20 with one or more of bands 22-42 provides a structural fix for an existing problem in the industrial glove field. The banded glove 20 provides a worker with a glove that enables the worker to have continuous control and proper holding ability, to exert constant grip force without undue hand strain and fatigue when working with tools, machinery, working surfaces, work pieces and other, various implements.

By holding the glove uniformly in proper position on the hand through repeated use, the bands 22-42 of glove 20 provide essentially a custom fit by its relatively easy expansion and contraction on the back of the hand, fingers and in some cases wrist, Additionally, this banded glove does not cause discomfort or reduce blood circulation in the hand. The secure holding of the glove on the hand essentially eliminates or minimizes glove roll during normal glove usage and over a typical lifetime of use. This feature also functions to add longevity, performance and improved safety for the glove in comparison to gloves not having this back of hand support and structural system. While a glove 20 with all of the bands 22-42 included is most preferred, variations in the number, size and exact placement of the bands are useful and considered to provide advantages over conventional industrial gloves. For example, a glove with a single band 22 will function to significantly reduce the glove roll problem, and in some applications may function to prevent the glove roll problem. Because the single band, in a preferred styling, resembles a saddle, this embodiment may be referred to as the saddleback glove. As will be appreciated by those skilled in this art, the curvature of the various edges may vary, and the band may have an opening in the central region. In order to perform its stabilizing function, the band or saddle should extend across the back side of the glove.

In regard to performance, the glove 20 has elements, bracing or bands 22-42 to keep the glove in proper place on the hand during repeated use, thus preventing or delaying glove roll prior to when the glove is retired for other reasons. In other words, this feature is advantageous because it tends to effectively eliminate glove roll as a source of other problems associated with gloves used in industrial or other work applications. This advantageously placed support system, on the back of the hand, fingers and wrist, joins onto the dipped palm of the knitted glove and permits continued performance benefits by keeping the knitted glove in place, with a custom fit to the worker's hand, and lasts until the glove is retired for one or more other reasons. Thus, this preferred glove structure contributes to durability as well as performance and increased safety in comparison to conventional work gloves. This supported glove also provides a worker with increased confidence in his ability to perform his tasks without being hesitant about glove slippage or glove roll that would otherwise cause tools, equipment, work pieces or other objects to slip from the worker's control. Also, in comparison to a conventional, well-used work glove, a well-used, supported glove 20 enables a worker to hold or grip an object with less gripping force that would be required by the conventional glove, thus alleviating much of the hand fatigue that would be associated with similar use of a conventional glove, as well as reducing the severity of long term effects associated with hand fatigue.

The back of the hand support brace and system can be implemented in gloves that have task specific features, such as gloves designed with features specific to handling glass, metal, vibration mitigation, specialized tool or equipment handling, etc. Virtually all gloves designed for such task specific purpose also have needs for prevention or minimization of glove roll, and as well as would benefit from the other advantages associated with the back support band.

With reference to FIG. 4, a glove 50 having protective structures incorporated into the back of the glove is provided for increased protection for the back of the hand and fingers of its user. In certain environments of use there is a great need for protection of the back of the hand of users. Conventional string dipped, knitted gloves fail to address this need. In general, such additional protection is provided in strategically placed locations in order to protect the hand bones, e.g., carpals, metacarpals, distal knuckles, etc., from scrapes and impacts

Glove 50 includes various cushions 52-72 placed at various locations on the back of the glove. These cushions function to provide additional protection to various parts of the hand. Preferably the cushions are placed on the glove so that during use they are positioned over the hand's bones and joints. As shown in FIG. 4, for example, pad or cushion 52 overlies much of the hand carpal and metacarpal area; pad 54 overlies much of the knuckles and 2^(nd)-5^(th) proximal phalanges area; pad 56 overlies much of the thumb knuckle and 1^(st) metacarpal area. Similarly, pads 58, 62, 66 and 70 overlie much of the proximal knuckles and 2^(nd)-5^(th) proximal phalanges; and pads 60, 64, 68 and 72 overlie much of the distal knuckles and middle phalanges. In the most preferred embodiment the glove 50 does not have the distal knuckle pads or patches 60, 64, 68 or 72. Of the various methods of manufacturing of gloves of the type shown in FIGS. 2-4, the most preferred is injection molding directly to the machine knitted shell. Another preferred method of manufacturing is by screen printing. Alternatively, these gloves may be made by sewing pre-molded cushions onto a shell. When the sewing of pre-molded cushions manufacturing route is used, the cushions may be molded and sewn in place on the glove shell, or alternatively, glued to the shell surface. The glove shell may be polymer dipped prior to and/or after the cushions are affixed to the glove shell. Thus, the present anti roll gloves may include cushions overlying a fully coated glove, as well as cushions on a glove that has not been previously fully polymer coated. Various thicknesses of cushions may be provided, with preferred thicknesses in the range of about 2 mm to 5 mm. The cushions are preferably made of PVC, nitrile, or memory foam, sponge foam or a combination of both. The cushions may be with branding or various logos. Also, impact foams of various thicknesses can be used when optimal protection against great blunt force is desired. In the FIG. 4 embodiment a knitted wrist 94 and an elastic wrist binding 96 are provided. As described above with respect to the FIGS. 2-3 embodiment, the wristing and the wrist binding extend around the entire circumference of the glove.

Although specific embodiments of the invention have been described, various modifications, alterations, alternative constructions, and equivalents are also encompassed within the scope of the invention.

The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. It will, however, be evident that additions, subtractions, deletions, and other modifications and changes may be made thereunto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims. 

1. A string knit, dipped glove comprising: a string knit glove having a thumb, a first finger, a second finger, a third finger, a fourth finger, a palm side, a back or top side, a thumb side, a side opposite the thumb side and a cuff; a first polymer band extending across said back of said glove; said palm side having a dipped polymer coating; and, said band seamlessly joining said palm side at said thumb side in an area between said thumb and said first finger and in an area between said thumb and said cuff, and at said side opposite said thumb side in an area adjacent and below said fourth finger and in an area adjacent said cuff.
 2. The glove of claim 1 further comprising a second band extending across the glove thumb approximately above the 1^(st) metacarpal position and the 1^(st) proximal phalange position.
 3. The glove of claim 2 wherein said second band is a generally straight, linear strip of material.
 4. The glove of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of metacarpal-proximal phalange bands, each of said metacarpal-proximal phalange bands extending across the back of said glove fingers at approximately the joint position between the 2^(nd)-5^(th) metacarpals and the 2^(nd)-5^(th) proximal phalanges.
 5. The glove of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of proximal-middle phalange bands, each of said proximal-middle phalange bands extending across the back of said glove fingers at approximately the joint position between the 2^(nd)-5^(th) proximal phalanges and the 2^(nd)-5^(th) middle phalanges.
 6. The glove of claim 1 further comprising a pad positioned over said band.
 7. The glove of claim 6 wherein said pad has a thickness in the range of about 1 mm-5 mm.
 8. The glove of claim 6 wherein said pad is of a material selected from the group consisting essentially of polyvinyl chloride, nitrile, polyurethane, leather, synthetic suede, polymer(s).
 9. The glove of claim 1 further including an elastic ringlet cuff that extends substantially around the wrist position of said glove
 10. The glove of claim 1 further including a cuff binding that extends substantially around the outer circumference of said glove.
 11. The glove of claim 1 further including a plurality of cushions placed at predetermined locations on said back of said glove.
 12. The glove of claim 1 further including a plurality of cushions placed on said back or top side of said glove at positions generally above and corresponding to positions of one or more bones of a hand upon which said glove is worn.
 13. The glove of claim 1 further including a plurality of cushions placed on said back or top side of said glove at positions generally above and corresponding to positions of one or more joints of a hand upon which said glove is worn.
 14. A method of making a structurally supported string knit, dipped glove comprising: providing a machine knitted shell for a string knit glove having a thumb, a first finger, a second finger, a third finger, a fourth finger, a palm side, a back or top side, a thumb side, a side opposite the thumb side and a cuff; loading said shell onto a flat metal hand shaped former to form a loaded former; placing said loaded former in a predetermined position on an injection molding press; providing a molding tool adapted to be positioned over a portion of said shell and having at least one cavity complimentary to at least one structural support band, said support band having a predetermined shape, a predetermined thickness and a predetermined length extending across said back of said shell; mounting said molding tool on said press; closing said press to cause said molding tool to be pushed into direct contact with said former; heating an elastomeric polyvinyl chloride compound to a temperature sufficient to melt it to a free flowing, relatively high viscosity molten liquid; injecting said molten elastomeric liquid into said mold to form said at least one elastomeric reinforcing band on said shell; cooling said molding tool sufficient to set said elastomeric reinforcing band and form a molded shell; opening said press and removing said molded shell from said flat metal former; loading said molded shell onto a dipping hand shape former; dipping said molded shell and said former into a nitrile latex dipping compound to form a latex dipped shell; and, drying and curing said latex dipped shell to form said structurally supported string knit, dipped glove.
 15. A method of making a structurally supported string knit, dipped glove comprising: providing a machine knitted shell for a string knit glove having a thumb, a first finger, a second finger, a third finger, a fourth finger, a palm side, a back or top side, a thumb side, a side opposite the thumb side and a cuff; loading said shell onto a flat metal hand shaped former to form a loaded flat metal former; providing a cool, open top metal mold adapted to be positioned over a portion of said shell and having at least one cavity complimentary to at least one structural support band, said support band having a predetermined shape, a predetermined thickness and a predetermined length extending across said back of said shell; filling said metal mold with a polyvinyl plastisol paste having a Brookfield viscosity of about 700 cps, spindle 7 @ 1 rpm to form a filled metal mold; heating said filled metal mold until said mold and said paste are a temperature of about 130° C. and said paste is in a semi-gel state; lowering said loaded former onto said open top mold sufficient to cause said paste to contact said shell; pressing said flat metal former into said mold and heating said mold, said paste and said former to a temperature of at least 180° C.; removing said flat metal former and said mold from said press; cooling said flat metal former and said mold to form a molded shell; removing said molded shell from said flat metal former; loading said molded shell onto a dipping hand shape former; dipping said molded shell and said hand shape former into a nitrile latex dipping compound to form a latex dipped shell; and, drying and curing said latex dipped shell to form said structurally supported string knit, dipped glove.
 16. A method of making a structurally supported string knit, dipped glove comprising: providing a machine knitted shell for a string knit glove having a thumb, a first finger, a second finger, a third finger, a fourth finger, a palm side, a back or top side, a thumb side, a side opposite the thumb side and a cuff; providing screen having at least one hollow space that is complimentary in shape and dimension to at least one raised structural support band, said support band having a predetermined shape, a predetermined thickness and a predetermined length extending across said back of said shell; providing a predetermined quantity of a polyvinyl plastisol compound having a viscosity sufficient to permit it to flow through holes in said screen and stick to said shell; loading said shell onto a flat metal hand shaped former to form a loaded flat metal former; placing the loaded flat metal former below a printing screen in a predetermined position; lowering said screen over and in contact with said loaded flat metal former; loading said plastisol compound on said screen and in front of a squeegee; moving said squeegee across said screen one or more times sufficient to cause said plastisol compound to flow into and fill said at least one hollow space; lifting said screen off of said shell and leaving plastisol compound on said shell in a form like that of said raised structural support band to form a loaded, printed flat metal former; heating said loaded, printed flat metal former to a temperature of about 185° C. for about 3-5 minutes or sufficient to fully get said plastisol compound; cooling said loaded, printed flat metal former; removing said printed shell from said flat metal former; loading said printed shell onto a dipping hand shape former; dipping said shell and said hand shape former into a nitrile latex dipping compound to form a latex dipped shell; and, drying and curing said latex dipped shell to form said structurally supported string knit, dipped glove.
 17. The method of claim 16 wherein the screen is a silk screen.
 18. The method of claim 16 wherein the screen is a metal screen.
 19. The method of claim 16 wherein said polyvinyl plastisol compound comprises: a PVC polymer or a PVA/PVC biopolymer, 100 parts by weight; plasticizer oil, 100-120 parts by weight; a heat stabilizer, 3 parts by weight; epoxy soya bean oil, 7.5 parts by weight; and, dispersed pigment, 3 parts by weight.
 20. A method of making a structurally supported string knit, dipped glove comprising: providing a machine knitted shell for a string knit glove having a thumb, a first finger, a second finger, a third finger, a fourth finger, a palm side, a back or top side, a thumb side, a side opposite the thumb side and a cuff; providing screen having at least one hollow space that is complimentary in shape and dimension to at least one raised structural support band, said support band having a predetermined shape, a predetermined thickness and a predetermined length extending across said back of said shell; providing a predetermined quantity of a nitrile latex compound having a viscosity sufficient to permit it to flow through holes in said screen and stick to said shell; loading said shell onto a flat metal hand shaped former to form a loaded flat metal former; placing the loaded flat metal former below a printing screen in a predetermined position; lowering said screen over and in contact with said loaded flat metal former; loading said nitrile latex compound on said screen and in front of a squeegee; moving said squeegee across said screen one or more times sufficient to cause said nitrile latex compound to flow into and fill said at least one hollow space; lifting said screen off of said shell and leaving nitrile latex compound on said shell in a form like that of said raised structural support band to form a loaded, printed flat metal former; heating said loaded, printed flat metal former to a temperature of about 85° C. for about 30 minutes to dry said nitrile latex compound; heating said loaded, printed flat metal former to a temperature of about 125° C. for about 15 minutes to cure said nitrile latex compound; removing said printed shell from said flat metal former; loading said printed shell onto a dipping hand shape former; dipping said shell and said hand shape former into a nitrile latex dipping compound to form a latex dipped shell; and, drying and curing said latex dipped shell to form said structurally supported string knit, dipped glove. 